Last night, we attended our first live performance in almost two years. It was awesome! The crowd was smaller than usual and folks were spaced out…but no masks were required! Some attendees wore their masks, but most did not. Our community COVID transmission rates have fallen sharply over the past several weeks. Mask mandates in the Atlanta exurbs have started to loosen, but the City of Atlanta is determined to keep them in place as long as possible.

Mask mandates and the increased crime rates are why we opted to celebrate our anniversary outside of the city, rather than our favorite venues in the ATL. COVID canceled the big plans we had to celebrate last year with a trip aboard the Rocky Mountaineer. The trip was available this year, but the requirement to wear a mask 12-14 hours a day while on the train was not appealing at all – especially with the price tag of our proposed trip.

Instead, we decided to go north to a small town with a really vibrant town square. Lots of retail, restaurants, B&Bs and two theaters. The city had a fall festival going on yesterday. We had fun watching all the kids playing as we strolled through the vendor market. We ate an excellent meal and attended a live concert by a Chicago-style tribute band. B&Bs were within walking distance. All in all, it was a great way to reconnect and celebrate our 31st wedding anniversary.

Deciding to cancel the kid’s classes at the quilt museum wasn’t an easy decision. I absolutely love to teach. Planning projects, teaching, and seeing my students get excited about learning…that’s my jam.

That said, I need to start evaluating teaching opportunities through more of a business lens. Hubby was the one who pointed out that the IRS mileage deduction (98 miles roundtrip) for a class with only 2 students would be more than what I’d receive in actual teaching fees. Ouch! Well, he’s absolutely correct. This doesn’t even take into account the time spent prepping for the class, commuting to/from Carrollton and actually teaching the class. (This totals about 6 hours of my time.) Then, there’s the cost of kits I make for students at the request of the museum. A class of six students is the sweet spot for this venue.

Closer to home is definitely more profitable. Fees are slightly higher. I’m not providing kits and I don’t have the commute. Classes of 3-4 kids are definitely doable. For now, my biggest constraint is a lack of daytime availability during the week due to my full-time job.

That sucker (software program known as Adobe Illustrator) was not going to kick my butt! I’m generally pretty tech savvy, but this app is tied with Final Cut Pro as the most challenging software program I’ve ever had to learn. I thought it was just me, but apparently a number of folks share the same opinion that Illustrator is NOT intuitive and user friendly.

Mind you, I just want to import quilt designs out of EQ8 and prepare b&w/grayscale line drawings of various parts in the quilt construction sequence for use as visuals to accompany my pattern directions. Very basic stuff. I still have a lot to learn, but I was able to manipulate the EQ8 files and create my own visuals where I needed them. Thank you to the individuals who took the time to share their knowledge in blog posts and YouTube videos.

Put it this way, the first completed pattern was sent to the designer today. She’ll have to help with two of the images because I couldn’t quite figure those out…but I’ve sure learned a lot in 2+ weeks.

A little sewing tomorrow, then on to the next pattern!